Durrant Pate/Contributor

A future People’s National Party (PNP) government would establish a Commission of Enquiry into the failed brokerage house Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL), where billions of dollars have been stolen from many ordinary Jamaicans including track legend, Usain Bolt.

That’s the promise from Opposition Leader Mark Golding, who also took a swipe at Prime Minister Andrew Holness, citing questions over his uncertified statutory declarations from the Integrity Commission, whose powers, he intends to strengthen if the PNP win state power at the national polls, due this year.

Making his contribution to the 2025/2026 Budget Debate in parliament last evening, Golding emphasised, “The SSL scandal has rocked Jamaica’s financial system and tarnished our image with investors. We again demand that all reports into what happened at SSL, including the Kroll Report and the temporary manager Ken Tomlison’s report, be released to the public so that the sunlight of transparency can bring a better understanding of how our sprint icon Usain Bolt and hundreds of others got fleeced in SSL.”

Beefing up Integrity Commission

He gave his commitment to have a Commission of Enquiry into the matter, focusing also on the regulatory history and how that licensed institution was able to carry down so many investors for so long. 

Turning to the Integrity Commission, one of the island’s premier anti-corruption agencies, the opposition leader charged that the agency “needs to be protected from the current attempts to weaken and dismantle it. It is a relatively new institution, and it is our duty as parliamentarians to nurture and support it, ensuring that it has the resources and legislative support it needs to carry out its anti-corruption mandate fearlessly and fairly.“

Acknowledging that the Integrity Commission is a vital institution, the PNP president promised, “The next PNP government will ensure that it has the resources it needs to do its work effectively. We will also enhance its tools by passing legislation for unexplained wealth orders, an agreed commitment on which this current government has reneged. We will amend the [Integrity Commission] Act to require the public disclosure of government contracts.”

He contended that the opposition and the wider society remain very concerned about the prime minister, who has been the subject of an extensive investigation by the commission adding that the report resulting from that investigation contained findings which the opposition and many Jamaicans find very troubling.

The report called for further investigation by the Financial Investigation Division and Tax Administration Jamaica, but the prime minister has responded by taking the commission to court, seeking to strike down the legislation itself on which Jamaica’s anti-corruption framework depends. In the meantime, he argued that Holness’ statutory declarations of assets, liabilities and income for the relevant years remain uncertified by the commission. 

According to the opposition leader, “This is an untenable situation which goes to the heart of governance in our country. Given that the prime minister has clearly decided to try to ride it out and lead his party into the upcoming general elections, Jamaica will use that opportunity to decide whether to allow this highly undesirable state of affairs to continue.”

Reverting to Opposition Parliamentary Committee chairmanship

Golding told the parliament that the next PNP government will reintroduce the system of having the Opposition appoint the chairpersons of the various committees of Parliament tasked with monitoring the performance of the Government and holding the executive to account. 

That innovation, he stated, promotes greater accountability and transparency in the affairs of the country. 

It was pioneered by former Prime Minister Bruce Golding and continued by succeeding leader Portia Simpson-Miller with the PNP president reminding the parliament that it, “was unceremoniously discarded by the current government after the 2020 general elections without any hint in their manifesto that they were going down that road. We will set things right in the Parliament of the land. “